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Michael K. Frith drawings
During his time with the Muppets, Michael K. Frith provided a vast number of design sketches which shaped the look of characters, sets, and props in Muppet productions, as well as illustrating licensed merchandise and books. Like Jim Henson, Frith's sketches were often done on notepads, ruled notebook paper, napkins, and other materials, in rough black form, as well as in more detailed colored suggestions and final presentation materials. Early Character Designs Frith first worked with the Muppets as an editor of the Sesame Street storybooks line while working at Random House. His earliest direct contributions to Henson's work included designs for Muppet Musicians of Bremen. His first full-time job for Henson, in 1975, was designing a series of new Muppets to appear on Saturday Night Live. Frith's designs, as already evident even in abstract characters, often featured a more realistic approach towards characters, caricatures creating an illusion of visceral reality as opposed to more purely cartoon figures. Image:Chickensketch.jpg|Chickens, Muppet Musicians of Bremen 1972 Image:Wiss.jpg|Wisss, Land of Gorch, 1975, as printed in The Art of the Muppets. Muppet Show By the time of The Muppet Show, Frith had become a key designer and full-time art director for merchandise as well as characters. Though many pre-existing characters were used on The Muppet Show, and though Jim Henson still contributed designs and ideas, many of the new regulars and a large number of the special one-shot characters were designed by Frith. The sketches were sent to both New York and London workshops, and helped to define a consistent look for the new characters. Though more realistic representations still continued, the designs for this production, especially the color sketches, were brighter and more cartoony, blending anthropomorphic complexity with the whimsical aesthetic and principles previously pioneered by Henson and Don Sahlin, particularly evident in the eyes. Image:Ballerinasketch.jpg|Ballerina Pig, on fabric cloth, included in the Best of the Muppet Show DVD extras Image:Beauregardsketch.jpg|Beauregard, rough line drawing, from Of Muppets and Men Image:Betsybirdsketch.jpg|Betsy Bird, full-color presentation drawing Image:Frithteeth.jpg|Dr. Teeth, Muppet Show, color sketch with temp name label, Of Muppets and Men Image:Floydpeppersketch.jpg|Floyd Pepper, Muppet Show, color sketch on yellow note paper, from Of Muppets and Men Image:Paulreveresketch.jpg|Paul Revere, Muppet Show, notepaper sketch, included in the Best of the Muppet Show DVD extras Image:Swedishchefsketch.jpg|The Swedish Chef (early version, later refined with Jim Henson), note paper sketch, Muppet Show Image:Uncledeadlysketch.jpg|Uncle Deadly, notepaper sletch Image:Hardwaregonzosketch.jpg|Hardware Gonzo prop, notepaper sketch, The Muppet Movie Image:Winnysketch.jpg|Winny the Cafeteria Bird, Of Muppets and Men Image:Frith.lips.jpg|Lips, Of Muppets and Men Fraggle Rock Frith's involvement in Fraggle Rock began early on, concurrent with the general concept development for the series and preceding the actual script-writing, as discussed in the DVD documentary feature Fraggle Rock Season One: Interviews with Fraggle Rock Creators & Puppeteers, and accompanied by the original artwork. Though many of the specifics changed or developed prior to the actual show, the general look and feel of the characters was already set in the illustrations, which were collected into a concept booklet and used for the show pitch. Unlike The Muppet Show, where sets and prop decorations were almost exclusively the domain of the London art directors working outside of the Workshop, Frith's designs for the series included set and prop suggestions as well. Locations such as the rock itself or the Gorgs' castle were designed by Frith, then translated into another set of sketches by set designer William Beeton highlighting the practical dimensions and finally translated into the actual project. Image:Balsamsketch.jpg|Balsam the Minstrel, notepaper sketch in blue pencil with character notes'' Image:Castlesketch.jpg|Castle of the Gorgs, presentation sketch Image:Cotterpinsketch.jpg|Cotterpin Doozer, final sketch Image:Docsprocketsketch.jpg|Doc/Sprocket/Doc's Workshop, presentation booklet sketch (prior to the casting of Gerry Parkes as Doc). Image:Doozervehiclesketch.jpg|Doozer vehicle, presentation booklet prop design Image:Doozersketch.jpg|Doozers, presentation booklet sketch Image:GoboSketch.JPG|Gobo Fraggle, presentation booklet sketch Image:Gorg-Fraggle-Doozer.Height.JPG|Gorg/Fraggle/Doozer comparative height chart models Image:Murraysketch.jpg|Murray the Minstrel, black and white sketch on notepad Image:Sprocketsketch.jpg|Sprocket, booklet presentation sketch Muppet Babies Frith's designs guided the basic look of the Muppet Babies in puppet form, and additional designs were created especially for the animated version. Image:Babykermitsketch.jpg|Baby Kermit, blue pencil sketch on notepaper, Muppet Babies References *''Note: Unless otherwise specified, all image materials came from Henson.com's now defunct Feature Creature archive. Notable exception is the Fraggle images, taken primarily from the Fraggle Rock: Complete First Season (DVD) Many facts also come from the Feature Creature archive. Category:Behind the Scenes